Quality of life and sleep quality amongst climacteric women seeking medical advice in Northern Taiwan

Abstract Objective To investigate the impact of the subjective sleep quality and quantity on health-related quality of life (QOL) amongst women between the ages of 40 and 60 years seeking medical advice (SMA) in Taiwan. Methods A total of 1098 climacteric women were drawn from two hospitals and each subject was asked to fill out a World Health Organization quality of life questionnaire. In addition, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was employed to evaluate the sleep quality and quantity of the climacteric women. Multiple linear regression analysis was first employed to reveal influential demographic factors and sleep parameters related to the QOL outcome variables. Structural equation modeling was then built on the identified important variables to validate the causal relationships between menopausal symptoms, sleep parameters, and QOL. Results The mean scores for the physical and environmental domains were significantly lower than those of the premenopausal women, as were the overall quality of life and general health for perimenopausal women. Although usual quantitative sleep parameters did not significantly predict QOL in the climacteric women, after controlling for demographic factors, severity of the menopausal symptom, and menopausal status, subjective sleep quality and daytime dysfunction were found to be major determinants of the scores in different QOL domains. Conclusion Subjective poor sleep quality and poor daytime function should be taken into consideration in the management of climacteric women seeking medical advice.